A variable rules engine may output a set of questions to a question responder and may assign a value for each possible response from the responder. The variable rules engine may assign values to variables based on responses received and output the variables, which may indicate insights based on the responses that are unknown to the responder. For example, a project manager answers a set of questions about a project, the variable rules engine assigns various values to variables based on the responses, and the rules engine outputs the variables that indicate estimated impacts that the project may have on available resources.